The Sumerians of Mesopotamia develop cuneiform, one of humanity's earliest writing systems, first used for economic record-keeping.
Approximate date.
The earliest evidence of wheeled vehicles appears around the mid-4th millennium BCE in Mesopotamia, the northern Caucasus and Central Europe.
Sargon of Akkad conquers the Sumerian city-states, creating the first known multi-ethnic empire in Mesopotamia.
King Hammurabi of Babylon issues one of the oldest and most complete written legal codes known.
Ramesses II's Egyptian army fights the Hittites near Kadesh in Syria, one of the largest chariot battles of antiquity.
Ramesses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III conclude one of the earliest peace treaties whose text survives.
Many Eastern Mediterranean states, including the Hittite Empire, collapse or decline sharply during a prolonged period of upheaval.